THESE spectacular underwater scenes are helping to push back the frontiers of our knowledge about the seas of the Dorset coast.
Taken by volunteer divers, they are award winners in Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Dorset Seasearch Underwater Photography Competition, launched to find images that tell the most about little-known species or habitats.
“Although our marine wildlife is recognised as internationally important, there is still so much more to find out about what is down there,” said Kathryn Dawson, the trust’s marine survey and data officer.
“The records and photos that we get from volunteer divers on the Seasearch programme are of great importance, and we know that their data from the last 15 years was instrumental in the recent selection of part of Dorset’s seabed for proposed European protection.”
Regular Seasearcher Nick Owen took the winning frame of a solitary hydroid – a small animal related to jellyfish and corals – chosen from hundreds of images taken during dives in 2009, and which won him a free weekend’s diving.
Winning picture - Solitary hydroid Corymorpha nutans at Grove Point, Portlan by Nick Owen
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Marine biologist Lin Baldock, who judged the competition, said: “The image of the solitary hydroid Corymorpha nutans is a strikingly dynamic photograph of an essentially static species which is rarely recorded around Dorset and more often seen in Scotland.”
Runners-up were Jane Szekely’s sponges and sea cucumber off White Nothe; Mike Markey’s rare sponge at Mupe Rocks; and Richard Yorke’s conger eel, goby and prawn off Swanage.
Runner-up - Sponges, tunicates and a sea cucumber off White Nothe in Weymouth Bay by Jane Szekely
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Runner-up - Rare sponge Axinella dissimilis with other sponges and hydroids at Mupe Rocks by Mike Markey
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Runner-up - Conger eel, goby and prawn in a rocky reef off Swanage by Richard Yorke
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“These images show something of the beauty that many people never see, just off our coast,” said Kathryn.
“But they also help in the serious work of finding out just what is living here in Dorset.”
• Divers interested in recording Dorset’s underwater wildlife can contact Kathryn on 01305 264620.
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